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Missing In Action On MIA’s Tour Bus
When M.I.A came to Birmingham recently, I made up my mind to get deeper inside the Sister’s head. After watching her progress over the last few years from PR/Art terrorist with beats, to the genuine article in 2007, I realised I knew nothing about the person behind the bass-line.
It’s quite peculiar as there have been so many articles about her across the media, a lot of them fawning in attitude, plus some without any depth on her music. At times it’s been “shut the PR machine up, and give me some reality!” I lost count of the times I read her dad was a ‘terrorist’ for the Tamil Tigers, that the US had her on a homeland security risk list and worst of all that she was the latest ‘Bhangra’ star to come out of the UK!!? So was all this editorial because the media, as usual, didn’t quite understand what they had in front of them? Or because M.I.A herself was supplying the spin?
Caption: MIA with Bobby FrictionWell we busted our way into her tour bus (very slick looking) and got a face to face with her after waiting ages for her to come down from the upper level. It was at this point I thought “oh no – we’re gonna get a royal entrance followed by a mono-syllabic interview” all designed to make her look cool. BUT what followed was the complete opposite. She entered slightly flustered and it was obvious she was getting ready for the gig, but gave us a warts ‘n’ all look into her life, her music and her mind.
Her bus was parked at the back of the Custard Factory in Birmingham in what looked like a post nuclear landscape. Big puddles of oil, the stench of stale bear and vomit with the odd broken brick littering the ground for good measure. This ‘griminess’ wasn’t helped by the fact that as we waited for her in her 21st century tour bus the lights kept going out, and we’d be plunged into complete darkness hoping the next person who tripped over us would be M.I.A. When we finally started the interview in that confined space, the lights were still being dodgy – much to our amusement – but after the fifth time it happened we just ignored it. Maybe that’s why M.I.A was so open…She was speaking in complete darkness and felt freer as a result? Who knows, I just love the fact that we got to the essence of the real M.I.A
If you want to hear the interview, and her getting deeper than deep about her life, just go to bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/friction
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Comments
Post your commentI love M.I.A - saw her in concert she rocked it! can't wait to hear the interview
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I love M.I.A - saw her in concert she rocked it! can't wait to hear the interview
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M.I.A has been around for aaaages, I think it's about time somebody dug through the PR smug and appreciated her very contemporar music. I saw her in concert, she was very interactive with the crowd and is intelligent in her message medium. She really, genuinely, cannot be defined. Also, I think she's way to cool to be called 'Asian' in terms of music... Let's face it, 'Asian' music is...well...crap.
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